TNR on Edwards

In today's Etc. blog, the New Republic discusses John Edwards' values rhetoric. After noting that the corporate accountability issue is largely a non-starter with most voters, TNR looks into Edwards' use of the issue:

"So what gives? The answer, as Slate's Will Saletan has suggested, is that Edwards doesn't care so much about corporate accountability per se. In fact, Edwards isn't even really making an economic critique. He's making a cultural critique, and the corporate accountability issue just happens to be the most convenient--and tactically sophisticated--way of framing it. According to Edwards, the difference between people like you and him and people like the president and all those corrupt CEOs is that we have values and they don't.

"Will any of this work? Tough to say. But here are two thoughts. First the obvious point: Most Americans aren't rich powerful insiders, which means that if they voted their economic interests alone, Democrats would win every time. The corollary is that to the extent the Republican project of the last 20 years has succeeded, it's been because Republicans have been able to redefine economics (and class) as a cultural proposition rather than an, er, economic proposition. That is, Republicans have been able to talk about economics in the language of values--Your money belongs to you, not to some out-of-touch politician in Warshington, D.C. ...'--which is how a bunch of lower-middle-class ex-urbanites end up clamoring for the repeal of the estate tax. If Democrats can either neutralize Republicans on the economic values question--or, as Edwards is trying to do, out-values them--they just might have a chance."

After listening to Edwards' town hall meeting last night, I think he can frame the values discussion in a way that can capture the voters' attention.